A Couple of Worrywarts
by WannaKnownLee
Summary: Pepper has left poor Oxnard for another ham! Poor Oxy is so sad that he doesn't even want to go to the clubhouse on such a nice day, but he isn't the only lonely ham at the park today! (A short, sweet Oxnard+Pashmina fic.)


A/N: Please R/R!!! No, I have not abandoned my B+B fic. I just haven't updated in a while because I'm so damn lazy. . In the meantime, however, I came up with a new fic idea: Pashmina+Oxnard! Where did I come up with such a couple, you may wonder? Simple. I was at the Hamtaro home page looking at some episode summaries, and I noticed at the top of the page Oxnard and Pashmina running around with seeds in their paws, and eureka! It hit me! "Why hasn't anyone ever done an Oxnard+Pashmina fic?" No one's fics seem to include Oxnard in any couples except for a little bit of Oxnard+Pepper (Which I definetely support ^^), yet there are many fics setting up totally different couples than in the show...even Yaoi ones! But none seem to contain poor Oxnard, so...ehh, whynot? So does this mean I'm a Pashmina+Oxnard fan? Nope. I like Dex+Pashmina and Oxy+Pepper, but I just came up with the idea of this fic, so, there you have it! Flames are allowed, but will be frowned upon. Now then...  
  
Disclaimer: Is it really even necessary to say that I don't own Hamtaro? I'm sure everyone knows by now...  
  
"A Couple of Worrywarts"  
Oxnard sat in his cage wearing a frown. "I can't believe it," he thought, "I always thought she felt the same way I did..." He said to himself, drifting off into his memories.  
  
"Oxy...you're the best." Her soft voice echoed throughout his mind. The picture of her adorable, tender smile couldn't be erased from his brain. That's right, Pepper, pet of Kana's cousin Dylan and the object of Oxnard's admiration, had a boyham of her own. Was it Oxnard? No. Who was it? That was the big question on poor Oxy's mind.  
  
The long-awaited 13-day-long spring break had arrived four days ago. Kana and her family had gone to visit Dylan and his. Oxnard was overjoyed recieving this news from Kana until she had told him the second half of the vacation plan:  
  
"Sorry, buddy, but we can't take you with us this time. You remember what happened last time we took you out of town, remember?"  
  
Oxnard's whiskers drooped. He remembered, alright. He had a history of jumping around in his cage in fear while traveling, which would sometimes lead to crashing the cage door open. Once he had tumbled right out of his cage and onto another human's shoulder. Luckily he didn't go unnoticed by the girl, considering she had a terrible fear of rodents. The minute she squealed "Kyaaa!! A hamster!" Kana immediately looked into Oxnard's empty cage and ran over to her.  
  
"Cheer up, little guy, Laura'll be taking care of you while we're gone. That way you won't be too lonely, right?"  
  
He was still disappointed in not being able to see Pepper, considering how long it had been, but his whiskers perked back up at this news. If Laura was going to take care of him, that meant he'd be able to see his best friend. After all, Laura took Hamtaro nearly everywhere... She'd take him to school, if she could! It seemed like she didn't think there was any danger that he would be able to get into as long as she was watching over him... So what harm would be done taking him to see his good buddy Oxnard?  
  
But that was four days ago. Not even a day at the clubhouse would cheer Oxnard up at today's events which had happened all too fast. Kana had gotten back around noon. The instant Oxnard heard the door slam, he twitched and kushi-kushed in excitement. Kana had promised a full report on how Pepper was doing.  
  
"Hey, Oxy! Miss me? I have the coolest news!" she began.  
  
...THIS was cool news?  
  
"Well, I told Laura I'd meet her at the park when I got back, so I'll see you later!"  
  
"Oh, well..." he sighed in sorrow. "It's not like she really liked me in the first place..."  
  
"...Well, maybe just a little..."  
  
Kana's door burst back open. It took Oxnard three seconds to notice that she was back as quickly as she had left.  
  
"I almost forgot... Silly me! Laura's bringing Hamtaro! Why don't you come along too?" she said, picking up Oxnard's cage.  
  
"Oh, NOW I'm allowed to travel?" he thought to himself. "Oh, what am I saying? I can't get mad at Kana. After all, it's not her fault Pepper doesn't like me..." he thought as Kana walked down the stairs, clutching the plastic handle of the lightweight cage.  
  
As they drew nearer to the park, tears began to form in Oxnard's eyes. Pepper meant so much to him and now it was obvious that she saw him only as a friend, or perhaps as a distant relative of some sort. Oxnard didn't jump around in his cage as he normally did. He just laid down in a big pile of wood shavings and sobbed a bit. He wasn't afraid of the tilting of the carrier caused by Kana's wrist which had formed a habit of spinning while she walked with something in hand. After what he heard about Pepper, he thought, there wasn't much more to be afraid of.  
  
"Laura!"  
  
"Kana! How was your trip? Tell me all about it!!" Laura said, holding her red fuzzy friend in the palms of her cupped hands.  
  
"Okay, but let's let Hamtaro and Oxnard play first." Kana replied.  
  
"Good idea. Here you go, little guy. Play nice!" Laura said, placing Hamtaro into the cage.  
  
"Oxnard!!" Hamtaro squealed with joy. He had enjoyed the visits to Oxnards over Kana's vacation, and now that Kana and Laura would be distracted with each other, they would have a chance to go off to the ham-ham clubhouse, which they hadn't done in quite a while now. However, Hamtaro's anticipation was not returned.  
  
"Hamha." Oxnard said weakly from the corner of his cage.  
  
"Heke? What's with you, Oxy?" Hamtaro asked as his head tilted and his ears twitched.  
  
"It's kind of a long story, Hamtaro. I don't really wanna talk about it." Oxnard said. He refused to look Hamtaro in the eye; if he did, Hamtaro would see his tears and would feel sorry for him. He didn't want that.  
  
"Okay, Oxy, if you don't wanna talk about it... Anyway, ready to go to the ham-ham clubhouse?" Hamtaro said, pepping up his voice.  
  
"No thanks, Hamtaro. I've got...some thinking to do." Oxnard replied grimly.  
  
Hamtaro couldn't believe it. Oxnard had never seemed this depressed before. Hamtaro had seen him sad before, being his best friend. He had seen Oxnard bawl over losing corn and sunflower seeds. He had seen Oxnard wail with a cat right behind him. This, however, was different. But Hamtaro respected his space and decided to leave him be.  
  
"Well, I hope you feel better, Oxnard. Do you need a hug?" Hamtaro said with a sad look on his face.  
  
"That's alri--" Oxnard cut himself off. He had already been cold enough to Hamtaro, who was only trying to help. He could at least give him a hug to make him feel better... It might do himself some good as well.  
  
"Okay, Hamtaro." Oxnard said. Hamtaro smiled and slowly crept over to Oxnard and gave him one of his trademark "Cuddly, not-too-hard, not-too-soft Hamtaro hugs".  
  
"See ya later, Oxy!" Hamtaro said waving. It seemed like Hamtaro had been gone in a flash. Oxnard suddenly felt cold. Hamtaro's hug was so soft and warm... It wasn't enough. He wanted another hug. He decided to follow Hamtaro and get another one.  
  
"Just one more..." he thought, "One more and that's all."  
  
While running by, Oxnard noticed another hamster cage. He immediately stopped and walked over to it and started sniffing.  
  
"Hiff-hiff..." He knew that smell. One of the ham-hams... He just couldn't quite remember who. For some reason, though, the smell brought only one thing to mind: The color pink.  
  
He walked a little closer to the cage and heard a familiar voice utter a sorrowful sigh. He poked his nose up to the bars and looked inside.  
  
"Pashmina?" He said.  
  
Sure enough, it was Pashmina. She looked a little bit sad and lonely, too. Not as sad as Oxnard had been, but definetely just as lonely. Until a look of surprise covered her face when she saw Oxnard looking at her.  
  
"Oxnard! What are you doing here?" she replied.  
  
"Uh, I just was..." What WAS he doing there? When he stopped to sniff near the cage, he had completely forgotten about the hug he was chasing after. "I was, um, looking for something. But when I saw your cage, I smelled you and came in and... I'm sorry, am I botherin' you?"  
  
"Oh, no, it's okay. You wanna come in? I'm kinda lonely..." Pashmina said.  
  
"Ah... Okay..." Oxnard said. He didn't know it, but his face turned a bit red at Pashmina's request.  
  
"So, why aren't you at the clubhouse?" Oxnard asked.  
  
"I'm kinda tired today. How about you?" Pashmina said.  
  
"Oh. Well, I came here with Hamtaro and he left to go there and I didn't wanna go with him." Oxnard replied.  
  
A bit of an awkward silence occured between the two of them until Oxnard attempted at starting up the conversation again.  
  
"Um... How come you're lonely?" Oxnard asked timidly.  
  
"Well, you see, when I'm not with the ham-hams, I'm usually watching over Penelope." she began.  
  
"Oh. Well, where is Penelope?" Oxnard said, once again trying to break the quiet.  
  
"Kylie went on a trip and took Penelope with her. They've been gone ever since that spring break thing started and haven't come back yet." Pashmina said, frowning.  
  
"Uh, don't be sad, Pashmina. My spring break hasn't been going too well either, really." He said, hoping to cheer her up.  
  
"Oh? That's too bad. What happened to you?" she asked.  
  
"Well, you remember that girl Pepper I like, right?" Oxnard asked, blushing a bit.  
  
"Yeah, she was cute!" Pashmina said winking. This, for some reason, made Oxnard blush harder.  
  
"Err, yeah, well, uh... Anyway, Kana went to visit her and I couldn't go, and she found out..." Oxnard was a bit choked.  
  
"What?" Pashmina said with a look of concern on her face.  
  
"She... has a boyham now." Oxnard said sadly. He felt sad saying this, but for some reason, didn't feel like crying anymore.  
  
"Oh, gosh. I'm really sorry, Oxy. I know how much you liked her." Pashmina said, looking even sadder than Oxnard. She yawned and stretched and her eyes drooped a bit.  
  
"Oh... I'm boring you, huh?" Oxnard asked.  
  
"No, no, I'm sorry. I'm tired because I couldn't get to sleep that easy for the past couple of nights... I'm kinda worried about Penelope because I don't know when she's supposed to be back." Pashmina said looking ready to cry. "What if she got lost somewhere or she's hurt?" she continued as she started to sniffle. Oxnard unexpectedly put his paw on her shoulder and she began to blush as well.  
  
"I bet she's okay, Pashmina. I know how ya feel... I was so excited and nervous about when Kana would come home and tell me how Pepper was doing that I had trouble sleeping too." he said.  
  
"Yeah... gosh, I sure hope she comes back soon. I miss her a lot." Pashmina said.  
  
"But if you're so lonely why don't you go to the clubhouse?" Oxnard asked.  
  
"I just don't want all the ham-hams to feel sorry for me." she said.  
  
"Yeah, I kinda feel that way too." Oxnard said. It was then that the two of them realized that their paws were clasped together and they were sitting awfully close to one another. They immediately let go and scooted away from each other, blushing madly.  
  
"I guess we're both just a couple of worrywarts." Pashmina said, giggling with her paw on the back of her neck in embarassment.  
  
Oxnard looked a bit puzzled at first but soon gave in to laughter. Eventually they stopped laughing and another silence occured.  
  
"I wonder why I keep turning red..." they both wondered. "It must be that... Should I tell him/her?... Hmm... I've got to! Okay!"  
  
They both took a deep breath and mentally counted to three and suddenly spoke in unison...  
  
"Pashmina/Oxnard, I---"  
  
"Uh, what is it?" Oxnard said.  
  
"No, no, you first!" Pashmina said with a bead of sweat on her forehead.  
  
Oxnard swallowed hard. "Please let this go better than it did with Pepper!" he thought.  
  
"Pashmina, I... I really feel like this is...fate." he said.  
  
Pashmina blushed and put her paws to her face. "I...sorta think that way too."  
  
They crept closer and, before they knew it, their paws were joined once again.  
  
"Pashmina...Does this mean..."  
  
"Mm-hmm," she said, nodding. "I like you."  
  
"So you'll be my..."  
  
She nodded again.  
  
"Oh, Pashmina, you just made me the happiest ham-ham alive!" Oxnard said as he twirled her around the cage. He stopped in his tracks and blushed very, very hard.  
  
"Heh heh! I'm... sorry, Pashmina, I just got so excited, I... couldn't help it."  
  
Pashmina just giggled. It had barely been a minute, and, already, she loved having Oxnard as a boyham. She blushed deeply.  
  
"Uh-oh... I think Kana might be worried. I better go."  
  
Pashmina frowned. The fun had just started.  
  
"Hey, Pashmina, wanna walk to the clubhouse together tomorrow?"  
  
A smile formed on her face again. "Sure!" she said with excitement.  
  
Oxnard nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, then!"  
  
Pashmina nodded back.  
  
Oxnard ran off and dashed into his cage. "Hey, wait up!" Pashmina's voice called out. Oxnard stopped, but didn't see her. She was right behind him, however, and when he turned around, he yelled in shock.  
  
"Aaah!!" he exclaimed, causing Pashmina to scream as well.  
  
"Oh..." he sighed. "I'm really sorry, Pashmina."  
  
She just giggled. "I guess we really ARE a couple of worrywarts, huh?"  
  
Oxnard joined in her giggling and the two of them blushed unanimously.  
  
"Uh, anyway, did you need me for something?" he said.  
  
"Oh, right. Didn't you say Hamtaro went to the clubhouse?" she asked timidly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, do you think he'll be able to find his way back? I mean it's a big park..."  
  
"I don't think Hamtaro could EVER stay lost for very long." Oxnard said with a smile.  
  
"Heh... You're right, Oxy. Gee..."  
  
"Hey, Pashmina,"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Lemme see your finger..."  
  
"Oh? Okay..."  
  
They locked their fingers together in a "pinky-promise" position.  
  
"Let's promise..." Oxnard began, "That as long as we're together, we'll try not to worry so much."  
  
"That's right, Oxy. As long as we've got each other, we can take anything that comes our way!"  
  
(A/N: Extra disclaimer: I don't own the "Growing Pains theme song. XD)  
  
Oxnard nodded, and they let go of each other's fingers.  
  
"We're a couple now, Pashmina. ^_^"  
  
"Yep. Not a couple of worrywarts anymore, though!"  
  
The two of them snickered and said their goodbyes. Oxnard ran back to his cage just in time. Sure enough, Hamtaro was already there, waiting for him.  
  
"Hey, Hamtaro! How were all the ham-hams today?"  
  
"Oxy, you're back! They were all great, but Pashmina wasn't there today!"  
  
"Oh, well, uh..." Oxnard shyly chuckled and blushed very deeply.  
  
"Heke?" 


End file.
